How can the barren Jiangbei support more than 200,000 troops?

Not to mention that Zhu Mingzhong faced such a problem, but Zheng Chenggong also faced a similar problem - the size of the army is often constrained by financial resources.

In order to expand the army, whether it is Zheng Chenggong or Zhang Huangyan, they often plunder men and enter the camp as soldiers. As for the monthly salaries of these people, they were extremely limited, and even the rations were the worst, and only those elite soldiers were paid and had three full meals a day. On the battlefield, they are probably a number, and in peacetime, soldiers flee from time to time.

Zheng Chenggong naturally knew about the situation in the army, but he had no choice, just like Zhu Mingzhong said - silver!

Although he Zheng Chenggong is willing to raise 300,000 elite soldiers, where does the money come from?

Even now, among the hundreds of thousands of troops under his command, there are only 150,000 elite soldiers!

Could it be that Zhu Mingzhong has any new methods. Thinking of this, Zheng Chenggong made a gesture of listening.

"Chengren, you go on."

“…… Therefore, the army is trapped by financial resources, and if we continue to implement the "generous salary to raise soldiers", although we can solve the immediate problem, it is not a long-term solution after all. ”

In ancient times, how could there have been military salaries?

Zhu Mingzhong's rhetorical question made Zheng Chenggong stunned, he was also familiar with history books, how could he not know that in ancient times, not only did he not have military salaries, but even food and grass were provided by himself.

"It is said that during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the Qin State had a population of only 6 million, and could send millions of troops, and its soldiers were not paid. To the Tang Dynasty, the government soldiers were millions, the government soldiers were not only unpaid, but also needed to prepare their own grain and grass weapons, and at the end of the Tang Dynasty, when the feudal towns were established, the recruitment of troops was popular, and then in the Song Dynasty, it was very popular, since then the country's financial resources are mostly used to raise soldiers, to our dynasty, to the military households as soldiers, so as not to consume the country's financial resources......"

Listening to the ancient military system that Zhu Mingzhong was talking about there, Zheng Chenggong also fell into thought, and when Zhu Mingzhong mentioned the military household, his brows only frowned slightly, and then said.

"Needless to say, Chengren, tell me what is the law of the "armor protection system" that you intend to implement in Jiangbei? ”

This is what Zheng Chenggong is interested in, whether this is the "armor protection system" or not, for Zheng Chenggong, he doesn't mind listening to it.

"Brother Hui, what this "armor protection system" has built is the foundation, and only through "armor protection" can the people be organized, so that military service can be implemented! ”

"Military service?"

Looking at Zhu Mingzhong in surprise, Zheng Chenggong asked rhetorically.

"What is military service?"

This is the first time Zheng Chenggong has heard the word "military service", and it is inevitable that there is curiosity in his words.

"Since the common people have military service, such as Junzhi, Lijia and Miscellaneous, they can naturally also have military service!"

Meeting Zheng Chenggong's gaze, Zhu Mingzhong continued to explain.

"The so-called military service is to make the people serve as soldiers, and this service is military service!"

This time, Zheng Chenggong did not interrupt Zhu Mingzhong's words, but motioned for him to continue.

"Therefore, in order to enable the people to perform military service, it is necessary to first implement the "armor protection", and then use the "armor protection" as the basis to recruit soldiers according to the "armor protection", and recruit one soldier for every ten households, and after three years of service, each soldier can be discharged, and of course, the service period can be extended in wartime......

Listening to Zhu Mingzhong's explanation, Zheng Chenggong felt that there was no difference between such a conscription and forced conscription, so he asked.

"What if the people don't want to be conscripted?"

"Ten households in the first are seated in a row, and those who are selected do not want to join the army, not only the tax service of the ten households in the first is doubled, but the people who are selected for military service also need to serve at least three years of hard labor! If there is a deserter from the army, the same treatment will be given, and if there is a desertion on the battlefield, not only will the tax service be doubled, but his family will also be reduced to pariah......"

Zheng Chenggong, who originally disagreed, was stunned at first when he heard Zhu Mingzhong say this, and then realized the difference between Zhu Mingzhong's method and the current forced conscription in the army, and his whole person even showed a look of interest.

"Strong men are an army, strong women are an army, men and women are old and weak for an army, on the horse for the soldiers, dismounted for the peasants, if so, why worry about the lack of soldiers?"

When Zhu Mingzhong's words fell, Zheng Chenggong immediately said with deep understanding.

"Strong men are an army, strong women are an army, and the old and weak of men and women are an army, which is called the three armies. The army of strong men makes food and soldiers, and treats the enemy with Chen. The army of strong women, so that the food is served, the base is beared, and the order is waiting; When guests arrive, they make soil as a danger and a trap for cultivation; Fa Liang withdrew from the house, gave it from it, and did not agree with it, so that the guests could not be assisted. The army of the old and the weak may feed the cattle, horses, and sheep, and the edible ones of the grass and trees, so that they may be fed by the strong men and women. And prudence makes the three armies untouched. If a strong man passes the army of a strong woman, the man will be a noble woman, and the traitor will have a plan, and the country will die; Happy, it is afraid of fleas, and the brave people do not fight. If a strong man and a strong woman pass the old and weak army, the old will make the strong and sad, and the weak will make the strong and merciful; Compassion makes the brave people more worried, and the cowardly people do not fight. Therefore, it is said: Be cautious so that the three armies do not have any mistakes. This is the way of great power. ”

Quoting from the Book of Shang Jun. The "three armies" in the "Military Order", Zheng Chenggong said with deep understanding.

"Qin Shi was able to implement the way of farming and warfare, thanks to the strict laws and regulations, so that no one in the army dared to escape, so that the soldiers on the battlefield, all of them were brave to take the lead, no one dared to retreat, and Cheng Ren intended to implement the armor protection in Jiangbei, which must also be in order to implement strict laws, with the law of continuous seats, forcing the conscription of soldiers and no one dared to escape, even the seats were strict, one soldier fled, and ten households were punished, under such strict laws, the generals in the army no longer had to worry about escaping!"

For Zheng Chenggong, who was accustomed to being a deserter in the army, he naturally realized the benefits, and even realized that this was completely different from the three-army farming and warfare system in the Qin and Han dynasties.

"And this method is in line with the current reality, if the resumption of the three armies of the war, I am afraid that the people will be centrifuged, and ten households will be made into A, and each A will take a soldier, so that every household will be lucky, and naturally it will not cause the people to centrifuge, if this law can be implemented, there is naturally no need to pay military salaries, with Jiangbei people, you can also recruit another 100,000 soldiers, and when the time comes, you will naturally have no worries about going south to clear the captives."

With just a little thought, Zheng Chenggong could think of the benefits, so much so that when he stared at Zhu Mingzhong, his gaze also changed, and for a moment, he even wanted to ask how he came up with this method.

This method can not only solve the problem of insufficient troops, but even in the next few hundred years, it will be enough to benefit the Ming Dynasty immensely.

"If my brother can implement this law with Jiangnan, he can also train hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers in the future, and when the time comes, whether it is the Northern Expedition or the Western Expedition, it will be easy to come......"

Northern Expedition, Western Expedition!

Although it was just a simple sentence, Zheng Chenggong still heard the other party's meaning from Zhu Mingzhong's words, he had no complaints about the Western Expedition, and he clearly hid it in his heart, otherwise how could he mention the "Northern Expedition".

Staring at Zhu Mingzhong, Zheng Chenggong did not expose what he was thinking, but only nodded slightly, and then said.

"Well, Chengren, this law, you first implement it in Jiangbei, if there is a need for Nanjing's cooperation, this side will naturally fully cooperate, after all, if this law can be implemented in the world, it will definitely benefit me Daming! After the successful implementation of this law in Jiangbei, it is not too late for Jiangnan to implement this law. ”

Then, Zheng Chenggong looked at Zhu Mingzhong again and asked.

"Chengren, there is one more thing, I heard that Brother Wei sent a merchant ship to Nagasaki?"

The sudden question made Zhu Mingzhong stunned at first, he didn't expect Zheng Chenggong to learn about this matter so quickly, and then spoke.

"Brother Hui, since the recovery of Jiangbei, he has tried his best to clear the harsh law at the beginning, and this Qinghe already has sea trade, so the younger brother will let people resume sea trade, follow the example of his brother, and use the law of "Tongyang Yuguo" to enrich military supplies. ”

"Tongyang Yuguo", this is exactly the "Longzhong pair" that Zheng Chenggong gave to Emperor Longwu that year, "according to the risk control, choose the general to forge ahead; The simple sixteen characters of "Yanping Tiao Chen" composed of "Sailing Ships and Conquering the Country" are concise and concise, fully embodying Zheng Chenggong's outstanding insight in politics, military and economy, and his "Tongyang Yuguo" is a witness to his fledgling ability to expand the Maritime Silk Road, to raise war through business, and to strengthen the country's army.

"Never marched before food". Grain, grass and logistics are important guarantees for fighting a war, and Zheng Chenggong knows this very well, and if the salary only relies on the collection of food and salary within the scope occupied by Zheng Jun, it is far from satisfying military needs. Therefore, he attached great importance to foreign trade to support the war through commerce.

He set up the Five Merchants of the Mountain Road and the Five Merchants of the Sea Road, the Five Merchants of the Mountain Road are the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire and earth, which are mainly responsible for purchasing various goods from the mainland for export, and the organization is located in Hangzhou; The five merchants of the sea route are benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom and faith, and are mainly responsible for trafficking in silver, cedar mast, salt, sulfur, copper, lead, hemp, timber and other military supplies exchanged from the East and the West, and the organization is located in Xiamen. Branches are located in coastal cities and ports. Zheng Tai, the household official, served as the chief superintendent of the five merchants of the sea and land, supervised their business activities with six officials, and set up the "Yu National Treasury", which was headed by Zhang Hui; There is also a "Limin Treasury", and the supervisor is Lin Yi. Wushang is a commercial organization set up by Zheng Chenggong for "Tongyang Yuguo" sea trade, which has been completely successful.

"Tonghai Yuguo is indeed the best way to solve the problem of salary,......"

Zheng Chenggong nodded, precisely because he vigorously developed sea trade, accumulated a large amount of money for raising troops, and solved sixty percent of the total expenditure; provided material support for resisting the Qing Dynasty, and it can even be said that if there was no "Tongyang Yuguo" and no "business to support the war", there would be no success of the Northern Expedition, and there would be no Zheng family, and it is precisely because of this that he would, to be precise, Zheng Tai would be so vigilant about the sudden appearance of Jiangbei ships in Nagasaki. After all, "Tongyang Yuguo" is the foundation of the Zheng family.

In the face of Zhu Mingzhong's explanation, Zheng Chenggong neither expressed understanding nor agreement, but only nodded and said.

"Jiangbei is barren, and it does take a lot of trouble to raise soldiers, and since then, this Jiangbei will all depend on you......"